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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27052300">The Great Halloween Baking Championship!</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Suguru_Slut/pseuds/Suguru_Slut'>Suguru_Slut</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Suguru Ships [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haikyuu!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Accidental Kissing, Alternate Universe - Bakery, Alternate Universe - The Great British Bake Off Fusion, Arguing, Award Winners, Awkward Flirting, Bad Flirting, Bakery, Baking, Baking fails, Cake, Celebrities, Contests, Cooking, Crushes, Dating, Developing Relationship, Dorks in Love, Fluff and Humor, Groping, Halloween, Halloween Challenge, Halloween Costumes, Holidays, Inspired by The Great British Bake Off, M/M, Public Display of Affection, Reality TV, Relationship Reveal, Romantic Comedy, Secret Crush, Secret Relationship, Sexual Humor, TV Tropes, Teasing, The Great British Bake Off References, judges</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 20:14:19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,556</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27052300</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Suguru_Slut/pseuds/Suguru_Slut</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Only three competitors remain in the Halloween Baking Championship; while the other two contestants focus on their final bake, Kuroo is having difficulty taking his attention off the show's irritating, pompous celebrity host, Daishou Suguru. Mostly because they have been secretly dating since the contest started and are doing a poor job of hiding it.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Daishou Suguru/Kuroo Tetsurou</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Suguru Ships [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1974403</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>55</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Great Halloween Baking Championship!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>great british bake-off meets halloween wars meets haikyuu</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Three contestants remained in the Great Halloween Baking Championship in Tokyo, Japan. After five weeks of grueling competition, intense rivalries, hidden flirting, disastrous cakes and glorious bakes, the finals had arrived, and everyone was dying to see what kind of challenge awaited. Kuroo Tetsurou had been battling his way through the country’s greatest bakers (all while battling his increasing affection for the show’s infuriatingly handsome and arrogant host) and made it to the top three—now it was time to show everyone what he was made of. The three bakers stood next to each other in front of the cooking stations, mentally preparing themselves for the big event; Daichi, Tendou and him were going to give it their all in this final bake, but Tetsurou was going to make damn-well sure everyone remembered his name after tonight.</p><p>The cameras turned towards the contestants once again, the lights were turned on, and the final battle for the crown of Halloween began.</p><p>“Welcome to the final showdown of the Great Halloween Baking Championship, 2020; I’m your host, Daishou Suguru, and tonight, I’m going to take you through the toils and triumphs of our final three bake-off contestants as they give one last attempt at taking home the trophy.” Suguru smiled at the camera. “Yesterday evening we got a taste of our contestant’s favorite Halloween flavors and managed to go an entire bake without anyone dropping their treats! But before we jump into today’s crowning moment, let’s meet our judges for the last time.”</p><p>The cameraman waited a few seconds before panning over to the judges so the audience wouldn’t see Oikawa kicking the judge on his left under the table.</p><p>“First we have the owner of Iwaizumi Pastries, renowned baking chef and expert cake decorator, Oikawa Tooru.”</p><p>Oikawa quickly put on a cheeky smile and flashed a peace sign at the camera, as if he wasn’t just harassing the other judge like he had been doing for the past five-weeks. The show’s ratings were up higher than ever on account of the bickering between the two judges over every single bake.</p><p>“Next we have world-famous bread chef and author of <em>Breads &amp; Bakes</em>, Ushijima Wakatoshi!”</p><p>“How come you said his name with more enthusiasm than mine?!” Tooru hissed, pouting as Ushijima gave a stiff nod in acknowledgement. “Tch—you still have no <em>flare</em>, Wakatoshi-chan.”</p><p>“…I don’t think baking requires a large amount of flare,” He replied slowly. “Your bake should be impressive enough that it—”</p><p>“Okayyyyy,” Daishou cut him off, stepping closer to the final judge so the camera would attend to them instead. “Our final judge is everyone’s favorite celebrity baker and host of <em>Baking with Bokuto</em>, Bokuto Koutarou!”</p><p>“Hey hey hey, everybody!!!” The gray-haired judge waved.</p><p>“Let’s see what the final Halloween challenge is.” Suguru turned to the three contestants, shooting a wink at Kuroo, who rolled his eyes in irritation as the host began explaining the final bake. “Tonight, the judges want you to make them a chocolate cake—but not just <em>any</em> chocolate cake. Your cake must be <em>devil’s food</em> chocolate cake designed around the bust of a popular Halloween character from a movie, gothic novel, TV show, anything; as long as it’s scary and includes a surprise element of blood, you’ll be in the running for the next Great Halloween Baking champion!”</p><p>Champion. That sounded pretty good to Kuroo. He and Daichi grinned at each other excitedly, veins boiling with haunting ideas and images of holding that trophy up, as well as spinning around the huge check for $50,000 they got if they won…</p><p>“Judges, what do you expect from our top three bakers this evening?” Suguru questioned.</p><p>“Well Daishou-chan, it’s the final week of this competition, so we’re expecting everyone to be their very best,” Tooru explained seriously. “There’s no room for error now, and we absolutely expect a <em>beautifully</em> baked cake and outstanding decoration with lots of Halloween flare.”</p><p>“Not <em>too</em> much flare,” Ushijima corrected, earning himself another glare. “The bakers need to stick to the basics and make sure their devil’s food cake tastes excellent. Don’t over-complicate the challenge by giving yourself too many things to do and not enough time to do it in.”</p><p>“What he said!” Bokuto nodded in agreement. “But they also need to wow us with the surprise blood factor, so it’s time to put their thinking caps on and really go for gold!”</p><p>“Thank you judges—we’ll check back with you in a while.” Daishou turned to face the contestants, giving them a twisted, challenging smile. “Bakers: please take your positions.”</p><p><em>I’ll position you over this table with a wooden spoon if you don’t stop smiling like a jerk</em>, Tetsurou thought with a snort, hurrying over to his station.</p><p>“Ready? And…bake!”</p><p>The final three bakers whipped out their sketch journals and eagerly began drawing-up their cakes; Daichi and Kuroo were both hurrying with their designs so they could get started, but Tendou was lolly-gagging behind like always, trying to think of the most perverse idea he could. Tetsurou knew better than to underestimate Tendou—he was always behind in every bake but somehow managed well-enough to get star baker twice. He was a force to be reckoned with. Daichi was a solid baker who always amazed the judges with his exotic flavors and productivity, and even though his ideas never really stepped out of the box, he made-up for it in execution. Suguru first made his way over to the cop, peeking over his shoulder to see what he was drawing.</p><p>“So, Daichi-san—what character are you making for the final bake?”</p><p>“I’m going to do Count Dracula.”</p><p>“Very chic,” Daishou nodded, even though he thought it was lame.</p><p>“I guess so,” Daichi gave a fake laugh. “He’s a classic Halloween-ish character, so I’m going to give him a pretty scary face and blood dripping down his fangs.”</p><p>“<em>Hopefully</em>. The judges didn’t care for the decoration of your coffin cakes yesterday.”</p><p>“Yeah. Hopefully…”</p><p>“You’re a policeman, aren’t you?”</p><p>“I am.”</p><p>“You must arrest a lot of handsome celebrities like me, huh?” Suguru teased with a smile. “Your husband must get very jealous.”</p><p>“Haha…maybe,” The baker shrugged. “I think he just really wants me to win so I can quit being a cop and open my own bakery. It’s a much safer job.”</p><p>“Right, right. Well, don’t worry about arresting me if things get out of hand tonight—I happen to like being <em>cuffed</em>.”</p><p>Daichi glanced at the camera and gave a frightened look as Suguru sauntered off to where Tendou was finally drawing up his cake, although the host had absolutely no idea what horrors he was looking at. There were multiple red streaks across the paper, most likely representing blood, and Daishou had to narrow his eyes for a long minute before even taking a guess as to what horrifying creature Tendou would be making today.</p><p>“Uhh…are you making…a devil, Tendou?” Suguru asked in fear.</p><p>“No way! This is the clown from IT!” He corrected excitedly, holding up the drawing as if that would make things more clear. “Here’s his nose, here’s his hair, and here’s the balloon! See?”</p><p>“Oh, yeah, I see it.” Daishou shook his head at the camera when Tendou glanced away. “Anyway…you’re a chef’s assistant. Do you think you’ll continue that after the competition is over?”</p><p>“Hmm…I do like cooking, but I think I’ve really found a passion for baking cakes the past few weeks. Didn’t you like my eyeball cupcakes yesterday, Suguru-san?”</p><p>“You mean the ones with chocolate—” Daishou could barely say the word out-loud. “<em>Grasshoppers</em> inside?”</p><p>“Haha, yeah!” Tendou nodded joyfully. “Those were wicked. Ushijima-san didn’t really like them, though; some people just can’t handle insects in their food!”</p><p>“Yeah…normal people don’t really like to eat bugs,” Suguru mumbled. “Well, best of luck to you and your creepy clown, Tendou.”</p><p>“Thanks!”</p><p>Kuroo was already preparing his bowls and cake mix, hurrying around to grab the ingredients he needed when the host came over to his table, smirking at him suspiciously as the cameras panned over his drawing. They had been going back and forth in this game since week one. Tetsurou hated the man, his stupid socialite attitude, his fancy clothes, nice hair, arrogant insolence…whoever hired him as the host should have been fired. Sure, the show’s ratings were the highest they had ever been, and yes, he was an okay host who knew how to crack inappropriate jokes and occasionally encourage those who were struggling, but that didn’t mean Tetsurou liked him.</p><p>Just because they made-out in a few closets and fondled each other whenever the camera wasn’t on them didn’t mean they <em>liked</em> each other. In fact, Kuroo was sure Suguru hated him just as much, judging on how he always pointed out the flaws in Tetsurou’s bakes to the judges. However, he was a decent kisser, and sometimes his smile wasn’t <em>horribly</em> snake-like…but if the judges discovered their secret relationship, Tetsurou was worried that he would be disqualified. Or worse, have his relationship with Suguru be revealed. On national television.</p><p><em>That’s the real horror story here</em>, Kuroo thought as Suguru came up beside him.</p><p>“Hello again, Kuroo-chan,” Daishou greeted with a sneer. “Do tell, what character will you be making for your final bake? I hope it’s something really scary, because that wasabi-chocolate tasting element you had yesterday turned-out <em>dreadful</em>.”</p><p>“Yeah, it did,” Kuroo held back a dark glare, hurrying around the host to lay out all his tools. “I’m doing Michael Myers.”</p><p>“Ah, a horror classic! What made you decide to make him?”</p><p>“Well, as I bake I’m going to imagine him murdering my least favorite TV host, so I think my motivation will keep me pushing forward.”</p><p>“Oh Tetsu-chan, you <em>are</em> the funny one in this season!” Suguru laughed, throwing an arm around the other’s shoulder. “Tell me, what would you spend the money on if your Myers cake wins the competition for you?”</p><p>
  <em>I’d pay an actor to dress-up and scare the hell out of you when you go to your car tonight. Then maybe I’d make-up for it by taking you out to dinner or something…but not as a couple. No way. Just as a half-assed apology. Well, maybe the making-out part would be the apology…</em>
</p><p>“I think I’ll take the volleyball team I coach to a professional match. After that, who knows? Maybe I’ll open my own shop or buy a new car…”</p><p>“How very kind of you. I’m sure your team will appreciate that—<em>if</em> you win, that is,” Suguru smiled evilly. “Tendou and Daichi-san both have great ideas, too. I’d watch your back if I were you.”</p><p>“You’re right,” Tetsurou nodded, pretending like he was deep in thought. “Maybe I’ll change my idea; do you think the judges would like a Voldemort cake? It would be pretty realistic…after all, I do have your face to go off of.”</p><p>“Always cracking jokes!” The host pretended to be amused while digging his nails into Kuroo’s shoulder.</p><p>If only the audience knew that Tetsurou could bring this idiot to his knees just by biting his throat…but it was best they didn’t know. Kuroo wished he <em>himself</em> didn’t know. Would he miss those long, skeletal fingers when the show was over? Probably not. But it was kind of fun, messing with Daishou, making him blush and sputter over his words…he was cute in those rare moments. Plus, it would be fun to dress-up with him at a Halloween costume contest.</p><p>
  <em>What am I thinking? Focus, Kuroo, focus! Your future as a baker depends on it!</em>
</p><p>“Best of luck, kitty-chan.”</p><p>Tetsurou thought he was finally free from Suguru’s annoying self, but when the cameraman turned away, the host stayed back—it was only for a second or two, long enough for Daishou’s hand to slide downward and give Kuroo’s butt a hard squeeze. Tetsurou kicked at his shin and felt a sense of happiness when Suguru yelped in pain, but still embarrassingly glanced around to see if anyone noticed; the only person looking was Daichi, who quickly ducked his head to hide his horrified expression.</p><p>“Last time I checked, hosts weren’t supposed to show favoritism to the contestants,” Tetsurou mumbled to Suguru.</p><p>“I guess you’re lucky, then.”</p><p>“Lucky my ass…”</p><p>Daishou scurried away before anyone else saw them talking, feeling Kuroo’s eyes on him for a few more seconds before returning to his bake. There was so much to do in so little time—five-hours had felt shorter and shorter as the weeks went on, and Tetsurou never felt so much pressure before. He knew the bake had to be flawless today if he didn’t want another disastrous repeat of yesterday’s tasting element, and so set to work mixing the devil’s food batter from scratch.</p><p>The studio was bustling with energy and the clinking of kitchen utensils, but hardly anyone said a word, too focused on their baking to really joke around or share their current feelings. Tendou hadn’t even <em>started</em> baking his cake yet, busy blowing a balloon out of sugar and trying to perfect its round shape; Daichi was doing his best to get his fondant rolled and shaped, hoping he could really impress everyone with his sculpting today. His chocolate mousse needed a lot of setting time in the freezer, and there was also the tricky part of getting Dracula’s fangs to ooze red liquid…Kuroo seemed to be the most busy, though, running around his station readying this and that, coloring fondant, taste-testing his batter one final time, pulling out every sculpting tool he would need to make Michael Myers’ mask…there was so much work to be done.</p><p>“I hope Kuroo-kun has a great tasting cake today!” Bokuto said excitedly. “We know he can bake a lot better than he did yesterday.”</p><p>“I think I see him adding cherries to his devil’s food mix,” Oikawa pointed out. “That should give his cake a softer, more exotic flavor. I’m looking forward to tasting it.”</p><p>“I enjoy Michael Myers,” Ushijima revealed with a nod of approval. “He’s a classic villain. I relate to him in many ways.”</p><p>The other three men stared at him wildly, silently wondering if <em>they</em> were talking to a serial killer but deciding they were too scared to actually ask.</p><p>“…Okay then,” Suguru replied cautiously. “Any guesses on who’s going to be champion?”</p><p>“Our final three are all very efficient bakers, and they haven’t had trouble with finishing their ideas up to this point—I think Kuroo-san has a good chance of winning if he nails his bake today.”</p><p>“I disagree.”</p><p>“Imagine that,” Tooru huffed, crossing his arms and glaring at Ushijima. “Do tell then, Waka-chan; who do <em>you</em> think is going to win?”</p><p>“Tendou-kun has consistently good flavors, and his ideas always rise above the others,” He explained as if it were obvious. “I’m sure his blood element with blow us all away, as well.”</p><p>“But Daichi’s flavors are so damn gooood,” Koutarou whined in pleasure, wiggling around in his seat. “I almost <em>cried</em> when I had his cinnamon-apple cakes yesterday!”</p><p>“Very true. If anyone can compare their tasting elements to mine, it’s probably Daichi-kun,” Tooru agreed. “His ideas never really <em>wow</em> me, though. He’ll need to step it up if he wants a shot at winning.”</p><p>“Bokuto?” Daishou addressed. “Ushi has Tendou for the win, and Oikawa has Kuroo. Who do <em>you</em> think will come out on top?”</p><p>“Oh! Uhhh…I don’t know! I just hope everyone has fun!”</p><p>“Of course,” Oikawa rolled his eyes. “Who invites a celebrity chef to be a judge…”</p><p>“Do you have any preference to a particular baker, Suguru-kun?” Ushijima questioned curiously.</p><p>“Me?”</p><p>“I know who <em>you’ll</em> pick,” Bokuto said teasingly. He leaned over to Ushijima’s ear and whispered something, and apparently it was funny enough to make the taller judge give a little snort of amusement. Suguru narrowed his eyes and scowled at the two, not knowing what they could possibly be laughing at.</p><p>“I think Daichi will win,” Daishou announced loud enough for the bakers to hear. “He has the best flavors, and consistency is key. Tendou tries too hard, and Kuroo blows every opportunity he gets to impress us.”</p><p>“Blows!” Bokuto giggled obnoxiously. Oikawa snickered behind his hand, and Daishou’s confused glare went unanswered by Ushijima. The cameras found their way back to the bakers, where Tendou was finally putting his cakes in the oven and Kuroo’s were already cooling. Everything went well for the first hour: each contestant was hyper-vigilant, multitasking and trying to prepare everything so they wouldn’t have to spend one single second waiting. Tetsurou was in the middle of carving Michael Myers’ broad shoulders when an actor in a creepy zombie costume came out and scared the hell of the judges—it was Suguru’s shriek of surprise that brought him back to reality for the first time in over an hour. When he spared an amused glance up at the judging table, an alarming, disagreeable smell found its way to his nose.</p><p>“Is something burning?” Kuroo asked out-loud, hurriedly glancing around his own station. His oven was still on, but there was nothing inside. Daichi heard him and frantically sniffed the air, but the scent didn’t seem to be coming from his area, either.</p><p>“Shoot!”</p><p>Everyone anxiously glanced over to Tendou, who opened his oven only to be met with black burning smoke; the judges gave pained expressions when they saw Tendou’s cakes entirely burnt to a crisp and absolutely unusable for his final product. Kuroo felt a bit of sympathy for his fellow baker, but he was glad it hadn’t been him. Yet.</p><p>“Well—guess I’m starting over!” Tendou scratched at the back of his neck.</p><p>“Tendou-kun has to <em>completely</em> start over on his cakes,” Suguru announced, scrunching his nose up at the awful burnt smell polluting the air. “Over one hour of the competition has already gone by; that’s going to severely set him back on time.”</p><p>“I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone come back from that,” Bokuto shook his head. “I did that on my very first show—I never wanted to give-up so quickly!”</p><p>“Looks like your guy is in trouble, Ushi-chan,” Oikawa teased the other judge. “That’s too bad!”</p><p>“I wouldn’t count him out quite yet. Tendou has been behind several times before and always managed to produce something for us to judge.”</p><p>“Tch…whatever. Let’s just hope he hasn’t ignited a baking curse for the other contestants.”</p><p>Two-hours in, Tendou’s disaster was the only one recorded; Daichi and Kuroo were doing their best to avoid any distraction and were applying fondant over their cake busts so they could hone-in on the character details. Tendou remade his cake batter and eventually began sculpting his clown, but there were so many little aspects he still needed to complete with almost half of their cooking time over already. Since he was apparently a master at blowing sugar, he decided to make many of his clown decorations that way and managed to catch-up to the other two bakers.</p><p>Daishou kept his eye on Kuroo, noticing that he seemed to be getting more and more pissed off when his blue fondant continuously cracked and just would <em>not</em> stick to the cake—after the third attempt, the host couldn’t help but stroll over and ask what was wrong.</p><p>“Well, Suguru, my fondant isn’t sticking to the damn cake, and if I had all the time in the world, I probably couldn’t get the exact same blue shade I need if I made it over again.” Tetsurou explained sharply, angrily trying to cover a bad spot. “Does that answer your question?”</p><p>“No need to panic! I’m sure the other bakers are having just as hard a time as you are,” Daishou tried to encourage without seeming <em>too</em> nice.</p><p>“Burnt cake can be covered up. This is on the outside of my cake, and there’s no way I’ll be able to hide—”</p><p>
  <em>Crash!</em>
</p><p>Everyone in the studio froze when they heard the sound of something shattering on the ground. Tetsurou and Daishou looked at each other with wide-eyes, slowly turning around to see Daichi staring down at the glass sugar fangs he had just spent forty-minutes creating: he appeared to have nudged them off the table with his elbow while he was mixing up some fake blood, sending the fangs clashing with the hard ground and breaking into a thousand pieces. It was almost enough to make Bokuto cry at the judging table.</p><p>“Oh no…” Kuroo said in horror. “Daichi, what happened?”</p><p>“I <em>cannot</em> believe I just did that,” Daichi laughed painfully, frozen in place as he looked at the broken sugar. “I cannot believe I just did that…”</p><p>“Looks like Tendou started a curse after all,” Suguru joked weakly. “You better watch out, kitty-chan—you’re next on the list!”</p><p>Tetsurou shot him a dark glare and returned to his station, determined to not let Daishou’s ominous warning get the best of his nerves. Daichi quickly pulled himself together, threw the sugar away and decided to get his Dracula sculpting done before redoing the sugar fangs. Their cakes were starting to come to life near the three-hour mark, Tendou’s creepy clown becoming more realistic by the minute as the bakers began testing their surprise blood elements. Kuroo zoned-in on his project, making sure to set his glass knife in a safe spot so he didn’t accidentally nudge it like Daichi had as he began the tedious task of shaping Myers’ mask.</p><p>Despite a few disasters, the three contestants were still giving it their all, though they were all alarmed when Daishou announced their current time crunch.</p><p>“You have <em>one</em> hour left to finish your creepy Halloween creations! One hour!”</p><p>“Oh dear god!” Kuroo worried to himself, hand starting to tremble a bit as he hurried his sculpting pace. “I’m never going to make it…”</p><p>“I don’t think I’ve seen any of the bakers test their blood element yet,” Bokuto commented at the judging table. “If their surprise doesn’t work, that’s not going to be good…”</p><p>“They should at least test it once, just to make sure everything’s working properly,” Oikawa agreed. “That is <em>not</em> something you want to leave up to chance.”</p><p>“It seems like their characters are finally taking form, though,” Daishou replied, specifically looking at Kuroo’s and wondering how the hell he could be so talented. “I just hope they can get everything done in time…”</p><p>“It’s like I always say: do not over-complicate the bake,” Ushijima said wisely.</p><p>“What, is that a quote from your stupid book?” Tooru huffed in annoyance.</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>“Of course it is…”</p><p>One hour turned into forty-five minutes, and that turned into half an hour, and that turned into twenty minutes…Kuroo was sure he had never been so stressed before, using all his focus to <em>carefully</em> slide Michael Myers’ knife into his hand without breaking anything. It looked good up-close, and as much as Tetsurou wanted to worry about the shape being too small or too boring, he didn’t have time. Daichi was already putting the finishing touches on Dracula’s pale face and had successfully created more sugar teeth; at least Kuroo was doing better than Tendou, who apparently was still coloring the clown’s hair and had yet to put the glass sugar balloon in his hand.</p><p><em>I have time, I have time!</em> Tetsurou kept telling himself, nearly slipping on some stray icing on the floor below. <em>Almost there…</em></p><p>“One minute left!”</p><p>
  <em>I don’t have time, I don’t have time!</em>
</p><p>The judges watched in heavy anticipation as the final three bakers rushed around their stations in a panic, adding last-second details, cleaning up their presentation plates, touching-up a few rough spots—hands were all over the place, jolting and slowing, shaking with excitement as they finished their final masterpiece.</p><p>“Bakers, your time is up!” Daishou announced. “Please step away from your stations!”</p><p>Finally, Kuroo could breathe again. He backed away from his cake and exhaled deeply, leaning onto Daichi’s shoulder tiredly; even Tendou seemed glad to be done, grinning at the other bakers and coming over for a fist-bump while the judges clapped for their effort. Hopefully, all their hard work, disasters and triumphs would be rewarded with the ultimate victory.</p><p>“If everyone would please bring their cakes to their according stand, we’ll begin with the final presentation,” Suguru motioned them over. “Daichi—let’s see your cake first.”</p><p>“I made a Dracula cake out of devil’s food pumpkin cake with chocolate mousse frosting, sugar glass fangs, nails, and rice crispy arms,” The cop explained, grabbing a small pump hidden behind the cake. “And here’s my bloody surprise…”</p><p>Red liquid spewed from Dracula’s gums and oozed onto the teeth and lips, getting an excited clap from Bokuto; all three judges were impressed with how authentic Dracula looked, from his fangs down to his creepy skeletal hands. They didn’t think it was very scary, but still effective as an icon Halloween icon. Oikawa even said it was probably the best character work he had done in the entire competition. Daichi cut them each a piece of his cake as the other contestants watched eagerly from behind.</p><p>“That’s a lot of chocolate,” Ushijima said, coughing a bit into his first bite. “<em>Too</em> much chocolate…”</p><p>“For once I agree with Waka-chan,” Oikawa nodded, mulling over the flavor. “Don’t get me wrong, the cake is amazing, and the chocolate tastes good, but there’s so much <em>richness</em> that you aren’t getting any of the pumpkin flavor, which would have really balanced it out.”</p><p>“But I like a lot of chocolate!” Bokuto quirked, shoving the cake into his mouth. “I really like that soft mousse you added—it gives it a nice texture!”</p><p>“Thank you, Daichi. Kuroo—you’re up next,” Suguru nodded, hoping his anxiety wasn’t showing. As much as he and Tetsurou butted heads, he really did want him to do well; he hoped the cake tasted good, and that the décor was to the judges’ liking, and that his blood element worked out okay…yeah. Everyone could probably tell he was nervous by the way he started fidgeting with his hands as Kuroo brought his cake up. The cameraman certainly noticed, because the screen stayed on him for a long second before returning to Tetsurou as the judges ooed over his Michael Myers cake—they immediately praised his sculpting skills and wondered how he was able to make the mask so realistic. Bokuto was even a little afraid of it and didn’t want to come any closer because he was convinced the knife was real.</p><p>“Today I made Michael Myers out of cherry devil’s food cake with cherry frosting; his knife is made out of sugar glass, and if you cut inside you should find my blood element.”</p><p>“Should?” Oikawa questioned.</p><p>“Yeah…<em>should</em>.”</p><p>Ushijima raised an eyebrow and cut inside the cake, immediately greeted by an ocean of cherries and red liquid oozing out, much to Kuroo’s sweet relief. Suguru accidentally smiled and quickly tried to hide it by staring at his shoes, but the camera caught him once again. The judge’s silence as they took a bite of the cake, returned Tetsurou’s anxiety in full-force. Bokuto was the first to speak-up, eyes lit with excitement and pleasure.</p><p>“This is <em>boss</em>, Kuroo!”</p><p>“Oh…really? Are you joking?”</p><p>“No way!” Bokuto shook his head. “It’s really great! I thought the cherry mixture was going to overwhelm the sweetness of the chocolate, add to it the other cherries on top in the red sauce, but it all blends together so perfectly!”</p><p>“I agree,” Ushijima nodded, which really made Kuroo think they were toying with him, because Ushijima usually never liked his flavors. “Cherry is usually very bitter, but you combined with just enough chocolate to even them out. I’m impressed.”</p><p>Suguru was secretly cheering for Tetsurou and wanted to kiss that stupid smile off his stupid face, but managed to compose himself this time.</p><p>“I think you did great on this piece, Kuroo-kun,” Oikawa admitted. “Between that creepy mask and the knife and flavors…you really nailed it. The surprise blood element could have been more dramatic, but otherwise I enjoyed every aspect. Thank you.”</p><p>Kuroo was still smiling as he returned to his spot next to Daichi, glancing over at Suguru to see what his reaction had been; the host secretly gave him a thumbs-up, and Tetsurou wasn’t sure why the sight made him so proud, but it did. He nodded in acknowledgement as everyone turned their attention to Tendou bringing his cake up.</p><p>“Alright, Tendou; what horrors do you have to show us to—”</p><p>Daishou cut himself off in absolute terror as he turned his attention towards the IT clown now sitting only ten-feet away from him and launched himself behind Bokuto and Ushijima for protection.</p><p>“Hell no—I am not getting <em>any</em> closer to that thing!” Daishou shouted, shielding his eyes and trying to force the images from his head. “Get that cursed thing <em>out</em> of here!”</p><p>“Don’t tell me you’re afraid of clowns, Suguru,” Kuroo snickered.</p><p>“I am <em>now</em>!!!”</p><p>“Tendou-kun, what kind of cake did you make today?” Ushijima addressed.</p><p>“I combined my devil’s food batter with vodka and used the cake to shape the entire piece, and the balloon, nose and eyes are made from blown sugar!”</p><p>“Did you say <em>vodka</em>?” Oikawa chirped excitedly.</p><p>“Yup! And here’s my blood element!”</p><p>Suguru peeked out at the wrong moment, just as Tendou hit the button that ejected the irises of the clown’s eyes and shot out red liquid that oozed all over. It looked creepy enough before, with the sick smile, evil eyebrows and eerie balloon, but now even Kuroo was afraid, and Daishou returned to his safety spot behind Bokuto’s torso. Ushijima’s eyes were sparkling with excitement, too distracted to tell Oikawa <em>I told you so</em>.</p><p>“That bastard!” Kuroo said in irritated awe. “How did he have time to do all of this?!”</p><p>“He’s definitely a miracle worker…” Daichi agreed in amazement.</p><p>“Let’s cut this guy open!” Bokuto cheered.</p><p>Tendou was all-too-happy to give them each a slice, standing back to wait for their reactions; Koutarou and Ushijima both seemed taken-aback by the pungent vodka taste, but Oikawa seemed to be enjoying himself, eating three bites before he even thought about speaking.</p><p>“Well, I wasn’t expecting <em>this</em> much vodka,” Tooru said, finishing his bite. “I think you put just a little bit too much in—enough to overpower the devil’s food chocolate flavor.”</p><p>“I don’t hold my liquor very well,” Bokuto coughed. “But the texture is perfect, and your sculpting skills are just…wow. You’re a crazy genius, dude.”</p><p>“Thank you!”</p><p>All eyes were on Ushijima as he finished his first bite, pondering over the flavor and texture. Suguru prayed that he hated it, that he was disappointed in Tendou’s choice of flavors, so that way Kuroo would obviously be declared the winner—he almost said it out-loud, too, but bit his lip to keep from speaking (because that’s the advice Tetsurou had given him the first time they ever spoke.)</p><p>“…The taste is not the best,” Ushijima revealed. “However, it’s not the worst combination in the world. Your superior decoration, glass-blowing and creativity is what brings this piece to life.”</p><p>“Yeah, you scared the hell out of Suguru-chan!” Bokuto snickered. Daishou wished he hadn’t reacted so dramatically, because that made Tendou’s cake seem even better than it already was… “I wouldn’t want to run into this guy in a sewer!”</p><p>“Thank you, Tendou-kun.”</p><p>“Okay, judges; the bakers have given you their all, and now we’ll give you some time to decide on our winner,” Daishou announced.</p><p>The three judges put their heads together and began discussing each baker’s final cake, and with the contestants in their own group a few feet away, Suguru was left alone in the middle. He kept staring between Kuroo and his Michael Myers cake, suddenly overwhelmed by contrasting feelings he couldn’t keep straight. He had really taken these last few weeks for granted—how was Suguru supposed to go on with his life after October was over? He had gotten so used to bantering and arguing with Kuroo, having fun with him in-between takes (some PG-13 fun as well…) and watching him work his hardest to create amazing cakes that would blow the judges away.</p><p>What would become of their relationship after tonight? Would Kuroo never want to see him again? Would he be open to a reunion show in five-years? Suguru hoped it wasn’t that long before they met again. Maybe his doubts were wrong, and maybe Kuroo liked him just as much as Daishou liked himself (or close to it). Maybe they could announce their relationship after a few months and tell everyone they started dating <em>after</em> the show ended; that way Tetsurou wouldn’t have to worry about being called out. That would work out okay, wouldn’t it?</p><p>The hardest question to answer was, if tonight really was the last time, would Kuroo miss him?</p><p>“Alright, Suguru; we’re ready.”</p><p>“Okay…bakers?” Daishou called, trying to ignore his bittersweet feelings. “The judges have made a decision. Please step forward beside your cake.”</p><p>Daichi, Tendou and Kuroo all came forward, anxiously awaiting the final decision. Everything they had made, worked at for the past five-weeks led to this very moment.</p><p>“Tendou—your disturbing depiction of the IT clown gave everyone chills. Your blood element was explosive and surprising, but the judges thought you added a bit <em>too</em> much vodka to your cake. Daichi—your Dracula theme was a classic hit, and your sculpting was the best we’ve seen from you; however, you didn’t add enough pumpkin flavor to your cake and ended-up giving the judges a chocolate overdose.”</p><p>Tetsurou snuck a peek at Daishou when the host turned his attention to him. He had a tiny smile on his lips, as if encouraging Suguru to talk shit or openly compliment him. All they both really wanted to do was hurry up and go off-camera so they could <em>celebrate</em> properly.</p><p>“Kuroo,” Suguru began seriously. “Your bloody surprise didn’t give the judges much of a ‘wow’ factor, but they <em>loved</em> your cherry devil’s food cake, your smooth frosting and couldn’t get enough of the Michael Myers mask. Only <em>one</em> of you can take home the $50,000 prize and bragging rights of being the 2020 Great Halloween Baking Championship winner. Judges, will you please pass me the envelope?”</p><p>Bokuto handed him the sealed envelope; Daishou felt his chest tightening with anticipation as his shaking fingers slid it open. Someone’s life was about to change—<em>his</em> life was about to change, it felt like—and <em>he</em> was the one who would deliver the news and crush two hearts.</p><p>“And the winner is…”</p><p>The bakers held their breath, watching and waiting, <em>endlessly</em> waiting as Suguru scanned over the paper’s words. He made a strange, almost grave expression before flashing a smile and looking back up.</p><p> </p><p>“Tendou Satori. Congratulations—you’re the 2020 Great Halloween Baking champion.”</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo and Daichi broke into smiles and clapped along with the judges, congratulating a surprised Tendou on a job well done. Suguru clapped too, trying to shield his disappointment with a fake smile as he constantly watched Tetsurou’s own expression, wondering how down he was feeling about not coming out on top. If Daishou felt this horrible, how upset did <em>Kuroo</em> feel on the inside?</p><p>“Wow, this is great!” Tendou said, accepting the large trophy and pumpkin-themed sash that said <em>Halloween King</em> on it. “I can’t believe it!”</p><p>“Congratulations, Tendou,” Kuroo smiled, ruffling his wild red hair up. “You deserve the win.”</p><p>“What do you say we celebrate with more vodka cake?” Oikawa said, grabbing another plateful of the IT cake. “Well, I’m eating the rest of this one, but you guys can have the other two.”</p><p>When the cameras went to Daichi to get his response to losing, Kuroo stepped back and glanced around to see where the host had gone; he spotted him by the kitchen area sulking, hands in his pockets and head down in a contemplating way. Since everyone else was preoccupied, Tetsurou figured it would be okay to slip away for just a few minutes and made his way towards the host, who turned when he saw Tetsu.</p><p>“What? Not gonna make fun of me for losing?” Kuroo chuckled as he approached. “No snarky remarks or—”</p><p>Before Kuroo could even finish his greeting, he found himself being kissed by Suguru. Without really knowing what he was doing, the baker kissed back, because no matter how much Daishou annoyed him or how often they insulted each other, Kuroo <em>always</em> kissed back. Sure, he hadn’t won the big event, placed second behind the annoyingly brilliant Tendou, but losing in a fun competition like this wasn’t so bad. Kuroo got to make fun Halloween cakes, meet some hilarious people, and doing things like this with Suguru wasn’t <em>so</em> terrible. Would it have been nice to get $50,000? Hell yeah. But maybe if Tetsurou played his cards right, he could end-up with a boyfriend who had way more money than that.</p><p>
  <em>Losing does have its perks.</em>
</p><p>Kuroo peeked his eyes open just a bit so he could catch Suguru’s pleasant expression, but instead, his attention was caught to the camera pointed directly at them. As they were kissing. He immediately swatted at Daishou’s shoulders, getting the host to turn and freeze, stuck in place with his mouth dropped open. It would definitely be a hilarious screencap for the Internet to fawn over later on. Within seconds everyone’s attention was on the couple.</p><p>“It’s about damn time!” Oikawa shouted at them. “We thought you guys were <em>never</em> going to admit that you love each other!”</p><p>“Kuroo and Daishou, sittin in a tree!” Bokuto teased.</p><p>“What…you…you all <em>knew</em>?” Suguru asked in shock. “For how long?!”</p><p>“Um, pretty much since the show began? Waka-chan was the first one to catch you guys together; I almost didn’t believe it!”</p><p>“What?! Ushijima-san, you…”</p><p>“To be fair, Tendou and I saw them making-out after bread week,” Daichi admitted, trying to get those images out of his head. “We didn’t want to expose you, so we kept our mouths shut.”</p><p>“You moron!” Kuroo yelled at the host, punching his arm harshly. The cameraman was eating all the drama up. “What the hell did you kiss me for?!”</p><p>“I just…I wanted you to know that I thought you were a winner!” Suguru sputtered. “You tried so hard, and your cake was so cool…you deserved <em>some</em> kind of recognition for being so talented!”</p><p>Tetsurou was too exhausted to argue about how obvious they (Daishou) had been. He was even too tired to fight his attraction anymore, shaking his head and leaning his forehead against Suguru’s with a deep sigh, ignoring the jeers and comments from their audience.</p><p>“You know, you’re a really shitty host.”</p><p>“Maybe. But I make a pretty good boyfriend—promise!”</p><p>Tetsurou couldn’t help but crack a warm smile, sliding his fingers through Suguru’s and trying not to show how happy he felt upon seeing Daishou’s own embarrassed little smile.</p><p>“Come on,” Kuroo said. “I’ll let you have a piece of my cake. And I don’t just mean <em>cake</em>.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>~~michael myers is god~~</p><p>happy halloween from my fav snake boi suguru and his dorky ass bf kuroo. Meet You In My Dreams should be updated soon, and check out my other halloween fics:<br/>You're Invited! Haikyuu Halloween Wedding of the Century<br/>Boo! Too Cute To Spook<br/>Hooters Halloween<br/>animalis autem invitata<br/>tricking, treating</p></blockquote></div></div>
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